Published: Saturday, December 29, 2012 at 10:30 AM.

No, the 17-year-old didn’t misplace her keys — or her shot, which was obvious as the Northside senior scored a career-high 26 points to lead the Monarchs past New Bern 65-44 to claim their fifth straight tournament title.

Curry, who also had 6 steals and 6 rebounds, was named the tournament’s MVP.

“It’s my senior year and I just felt like the rest of the girls deserved it,” Curry said. “Before the game they told me to just come out here and do what I’m supposed to do and they’d do what they’re supposed to do. That’s just what I did.”

A senior moment? You bet it was. It was a moment to remember for the scrappy senior, who is bound for the Naval Academy.

“The alumni girls sent us texts today and they were like, ‘Bring it home, we won this so many times we need you girls to do it again,’” Curry said. “When they did that, that kind of hit home to me.”

The 5-foot-6 Curry scored 12 points in the opening period, which ended with the Monarchs up 25-9. She scored on a baseline drive, a baseline-to-baseline layup, two slicing, devil-may-care runners in the lane (twice) as well as 2 of 5 free throws, one coming after a drive in which she made the bucket and was fouled.

No, the 17-year-old didn’t misplace her keys — or her shot, which was obvious as the Northside senior scored a career-high 26 points to lead the Monarchs past New Bern 65-44 to claim their fifth straight tournament title.

Curry, who also had 6 steals and 6 rebounds, was named the tournament’s MVP.

“It’s my senior year and I just felt like the rest of the girls deserved it,” Curry said. “Before the game they told me to just come out here and do what I’m supposed to do and they’d do what they’re supposed to do. That’s just what I did.”

A senior moment? You bet it was. It was a moment to remember for the scrappy senior, who is bound for the Naval Academy.

“The alumni girls sent us texts today and they were like, ‘Bring it home, we won this so many times we need you girls to do it again,’” Curry said. “When they did that, that kind of hit home to me.”

The 5-foot-6 Curry scored 12 points in the opening period, which ended with the Monarchs up 25-9. She scored on a baseline drive, a baseline-to-baseline layup, two slicing, devil-may-care runners in the lane (twice) as well as 2 of 5 free throws, one coming after a drive in which she made the bucket and was fouled.

Talk about coming out hot.

“I took a nap before this game,” Curry said by explanation for her smoking start. “I normally don’t get a nap, but I need a nap. It’s just my senior year and I want really want to go all out my senior year. I’m proud of my girls. I’m proud of the coaching staff for training me to be a better player.”

First-year coach Chad Novelli said Curry turned in a game to remember.

“If anybody in the area did not know what kind of player she was before tonight, I’m sure they do now,” he said.

While Curry led the way, she got plenty of help from her teammates. Journee’ Collins, who made the all-tournament team, and Kayla Hill each had 13 points. Collins also had 7 rebounds for the Monarchs (9-2).

J.J. Jones, who made the all-tournament team, led New Bern with 12 points.

“There’s a reason why they’ve won it five straight times,” New Bern coach Bill Bondurant said. “They’ve got shooters, not just her (Curry). They had shooters all the way around.”

After racing out to a 25-6 lead with 33 seconds left in the opening period, the Monarchs were never threatened by the Bears. Northside took a 38-21 lead into the half after a buzzer-beating 3-pointer by Collins from the wing.

Northside led by as many as 24 in the second half.

Along with Curry’s scoring, the Monarchs used their patented full-court pressure that then morphs into an equally intense half-court vise grip to cause turnovers — the Bears had 14 in the first half, double Northside’s total.

“We obviously rely on that a lot,” Novelli said. “We get a lot our points due to our pressure, and right now all five on the floor are part of it. Ashanti is playing great and the supporting cast is doing their job and we’re getting easy buckets out of it.”

Bondurant said this wasn’t the first time the Bears have faced that kind of pressure.

“We just didn’t respond to it as well as we can,” he said. “It was one of those nights. Again, as long as we’re fighting, as long as we’re competing, and I thought we did, that’s all you can ask. You’ve just got to give it to the other team. They make their shots, they get their stops. They were the better team tonight.”

And Novelli, for one, was breathing a little easier. As a first-year coach of arguably Onslow County’s top girls’ basketball program, he didn’t want to be on the bench when the Monarchs’ streak in the Dixon Christmas Classic ended.

“I am not going to lie. I’m not going to say that didn’t cross my mind. There’s no doubt the success they’ve had,” he said. “As I said when I got the job, all I wanted to do was continue to build on what they’ve already started.”

And after a 57-37 win over 3-A White Oak on Thursday and a 21-point win over the 4-A Bears, Novelli likes what he’s seeing from the Monarchs.

“Tonight and last night I think we played at the level that we expect to be playing at right now. We’re still not 100 percent where we want to be, but we’re sure as heck on our way,” he said. “We’re clicking right now.”